[strong][em]Persimmon[/em]’s Experience[/strong]

by Caroline Herrick

For the first in a series of articles considering the pros and cons of online publishing and examining the views of those who have had experience dealing with such issues, Caroline Herrick reflects on her experience as founding editor of [em]Persimmon: Asian Literature, Arts, and Culture[/em] and its venture online. Herrick began her career at [em]The New Yorker[/em] and has also worked for book publisher Little, Brown & Co. and Forbes. From 1991 to 1993, she lived in Beijing, where she taught English to graduate students at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and was the "foreign expert" for the English section of [em]China Pictorial[/em] magazine. A freelance editor and writer, she is a frequent contributor to the [em]Asian Art Newspaper[/em].

[strong]Rugged but Rewarding[/strong]

by Higashizono Tadatoshi

A witness to the progress—and lack of it—in the Japanese-to-English translation profession over 40 years, Higashizono Tadatoshi studied English under a demanding English composition teacher in a Kagoshima high school and Orwell- and Galsworthy-enthusiast professors at a Kumamoto university. His translations appeared in the [em]Japan Quarterly[/em] (1980-84, under the pen name Tad Tohyen). He is a member of the Japan Association of English Romanticism, the Asiatic Society of Japan, and the Japan Association for Current English Studies. He describes his retirement-free career in Japanese-to-English translation from the viewpoint of a native speaker of Japanese.

[strong]Historical Terms Online[/strong]

by Haruko Wakabayashi

Researchers and translators can now see how scholars translate Japanese historical terms by tapping into the University of Tokyo Historiographical Institute’s Online Japanese-English Glossary of Premodern Japanese Historical Terms. Research coordinator Haruko Wakabayashi outlines the functions of the Glossary and some of the challenges the compilers faced. The glossary is named the 応答型翻訳支援システム.

[strong]SWET on Saturdays Reports[/strong]

[strong]January 2004[/strong]
Television, Films, Books (Panel Discussion and New Year's Party)
"Create your own publishing company," said Kathleen Morikawa, who did it all herself with [em]A Couch Potato's Guide to Japan[/em], a collection of columns on the inside world of Japanese TV (Forest River Press, 2003).

"I wouldn't advise anyone getting involved in an open-ended project like this unless you really are obsessed or you have the time and money,' advised Mark Schilling, who rivals Quentin Tarantino in his love of the blood-soaked yakuza film genre. Schilling's latest book is [em]The Yakuza Movie Book: A Guide to Japanese Gangster Films[/em] (Stone Bridge Press, 2003).

"I've had published, if you include translations and everything, well over 40 books, and yet if I had to live on my royalties, I'd starve to death…. But that’s not the reason you write in the first place," remarked Donald Richie, author of [em]Japanese Literature Reviewed[/em] (ICG Muse, Inc., 2003).

The three seasoned authors spoke briefly about their work and signed copies of their recently published books at the 24th SWET New Year's Party on January 24, 2004, at International House, Tokyo. (by Cheryl Meyers and Allan Murphy)

[strong]February 2004[/strong]
Using Our Resources (SWET Open Forum)
What kind of information do you need to pursue a writing, translating, or editing career in Japan? Where can you go for advice? What should you do to improve your skills? How do you deal with clients who think they know English better than you do? SWET veterans Hugh Ashton, Bryan Harrell, Julie Kuma, Bob Poulson, Lynne Riggs, Doreen Simmons, and Fred Uleman were on hand to answer these and other questions get to know some of the newer members who attended the SWET on Saturdays "English Wordsmiths Japan: SWET Resource Forum" on February 28. (by Natasha Thompson)

[strong]March 2004[/strong]
Intellectual Exchange (Andrew Horvat)
On March 24, 2004, Andrew Horvat, Tokyo Representative at the Asia Foundation, gave a talk on "Intellectual Exchange: From the Cold War to the Twenty-First Century" to an audience gathered despite the allure of warm weather and cherry blossoms in full bloom. In addition to explaining the activities of the San Francisco-based Asia Foundation since its founding in 1954 and reflecting on the role of non-state actors in international relations, he presented a proposal for an International Academic Communication Clearing House Web site to be launched initially under Asia Foundation auspices. (by Lynne E. Riggs)

[strong]April 2004[/strong]
Research Writing (Peter J. Matthews)
On April 24, Peter Matthews, researcher at the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, spoke about his career as an anthropologist and his work as a writer and editor of research writing based at the Museum since 1996. He also reported on his efforts to create "an online meeting place for aspiring, experienced, and professional research writers, editors, and translators" and the results of the 2003 Conference on Research Writing, the proceedings of which were published in March 2004 under the title [em]Research Writing in Japan[/em] (available free of charge). (by Lynne E. Riggs)

[strong]Book Review[/strong]

by Janet Goff

[em]Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.[/em] Lynne Truss. New York: Gotham Books, 2004, 209 pp. ISBN 1-592-40087-6. Hardback $17.50.

[strong]Threads on SWET-L[/strong]

[em]E-E Translation Needed![/em] by Holly Ueda

Faithful SWET-L mailing list participant Holly Ueda sifts through the abundance of postings during the spring of 2004 for valuable and fascinating nuggets of word and language lore, conveniently summarized here for the off-list bystander and the printed record.

[strong]Memorial Gathering: A Founder Remembered[/strong]

On April 25, 2004 a memorial gathering was held for a founding member of SWET, Barbara Curtis Adachi (1924–2004).